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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28528179">Winter Vacation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AimingSashimiG/pseuds/AimingSashimiG'>AimingSashimiG</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aizarashi/pseuds/Aizarashi'>Aizarashi</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazer196/pseuds/Lazer196'>Lazer196</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedailythoughtsoftsugumi/pseuds/thedailythoughtsoftsugumi'>thedailythoughtsoftsugumi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempts at Humon, F/F, collaborative writing, winter vacation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:15:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,146</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28528179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AimingSashimiG/pseuds/AimingSashimiG, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aizarashi/pseuds/Aizarashi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazer196/pseuds/Lazer196, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedailythoughtsoftsugumi/pseuds/thedailythoughtsoftsugumi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kokoro invites her friends to a vacation in the Bahamas.</p><p>A collaborative writing piece from the KiRA2Writing discord server</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hikawa Sayo/Shirokane Rinko/Udagawa Ako, Imai Lisa/Maruyama Aya, Kitazawa Hagumi/Okusawa Misaki, Matsubara Kanon/Mitake Ran</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Winter Vacation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Of all the places Sayo expected to be right after Christmas ended, in an airplane headed for the Bahamas was not one of them. Frankly, she was going to deny Kokoro’s offer to concentrate on her Winter homework, but then her girlfriends had seemed so excited about it…</p><p>“Mwa-ha-ha, we have exceeded the limits of humanity, challenging god as we, um, challenge, um…” Ako ranted, one hand in a pose in front of her eye and the other holding onto one of Sayo’s hands.</p><p>“Challenge god as we ascend into heaven,” Rinko suggested, holding onto Sayo’s other hand.</p><p>Well, Sayo was glad she decided to come. And maybe Ako’s Winter homework could be done to a better standard than usual. Speaking of…</p><p>“Make sure you do your journal every day, alright Ako-san. Last year, trying to make up a bunch of stuff the day before it was due took a lot of time,” Sayo instructed.</p><p>“I’ll try, Sayo, but it’s just so hard to remember to journal when you’re enjoying life, you know,” the drummer replied.</p><p>“Sayo-chan and I will remind you then, Ako-chan,” said Rinko.</p><p>Ako’s “Thanks, Rinrin,” was perhaps a little less enthusiastic than usual. </p><p>Nearby, Aya was breathing hard into a paper bag as Lisa rubbed her back.</p><p>“It’ll be okay, Aya, airplanes are actually one of the safest forms of transportation,” the bassist assured.</p><p>“I know, but… We’re so high. Ako is right! This isn’t something humanity is meant to do,” Aya replied.</p><p>“Did you know that we took a train to Kyushu rather than a plane just because of Aya-chan?” Chisato commented from beside them.</p><p>“It’s too bad,” Hina said, “The faces she makes on a plane are totally boppin’.”</p><p>“Guys, stop making fun of meeee,” Aya wailed.</p><p>“Don’t worry, you’re a really brave girl, Aya,” Lisa assured, “Do you know way more people are scared of performing in front of a crowd than flying?”</p><p>“You’re so nice, Lisa-chan. Maybe flying to Kyushu would have been alright if you were there…”</p><p>Lisa smiled at her and patted Aya’s back as soon as she heard the pink haired idol throw up in the paper bag. She couldn’t help but get worried for Aya when she saw her look sickly during the plane ride. Lisa would most likely lead her to the nearest restroom in the hotel just in case Aya looked like she still needed to throw up after.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>The Bahamas. The last place that would cross Ran’s mind when thinking of a Winter vacation. Considering how rich the Tsurumaki family was, Ran expected Kokoro to buy out an entire hotel in the middle of Tokyo for them to stay. Of course, such an idea was outlandish but it was Kokoro Tsurumaki we were talking about. </p><p>With that being said, why did Ran ever agree to this trip in the first place? Well, if it wasn’t for a certain drummer who loved jellyfish, Ran and the rest of Afterglow would be spending the holidays writing another Christmas song. Yes, the Kanon Matsubara, the timid drummer and only sane person of Hello Happy World.</p><p>“Matsubara-san, if you're afraid of heights you can just close the window.” Ran stated a matter of factly, tapping the terrified Kanon on her shoulder. </p><p>“Fueeee~ But Ran-chan, I was hoping to catch some jellyfish in the ocean…” Being snapped out of her trance, Kanon jolted up from her seat, the seatbelt thankfully keeping her attached to her chair.</p><p>“Jellyfish? From this height? Matsubara-san, I think that’s a little bit…” Ran cut herself off with a tiny giggle, amused by Kanon’s attempt at a free aquarium visit. She quickly let her small spout of laughter die off before turning back to face Kanon, whose face was cherry red with embarrassment. </p><p>“Mouu!! Ran-chan, you can see them from up here too. You just need to squint a little bit, and see their wavy transparent bodies, and their vibrant colours, and their-” Now it was Kanon’s turn to cut herself off, but this time it was to stop herself from further discomforting Ran with her vivid jellyfish descriptions. </p><p>“S-Sorry, I think I creeped you out with my…” Kanon’s face sank in realisation, using the pillow she was clutching to hide her face from Ran. </p><p>“What are you apologising for, Matsubara-san? I'm alright with it.” Ran’s smooth and soothing voice made Kanon peek her red-hot face out from the pillow, eyeing the vocalist with intent. </p><p>“R-Really-? Then… Then… Would you mind going with me to the aquarium today-!?!?!” The last part of the sentence was quite rushed, sounding less of an invitation and more of a confession from a soft and shy girl. </p><p>Kanon’s body moved as close as possible to Ran, with the seatbelt struggling to hold the drummer back from toppling right onto Ran. Completely unaware of her current predicament, Kanon continued to advance further and further into Ran’s personal bubble in anticipation for an answer. </p><p>“I want to go to the aquarium too!” exclaimed Ako, who had come to get some snacks from her sister, “We can all see the cool sea monsters!”</p><p>“Hold on, sis,” said Tomoe, “Ran and Kanon-san are having a moment. And you shouldn’t interrupt their aquarium date either.”</p><p>“A-A moment!?!?” Ran, overhearing what Tomoe just blurted out, hastily looked left and right to make sure nobody else saw Kanon’s rapid relationship advancement. Her face was brushed with pink, likely due to Kanon’s body heat radiating onto her.</p><p>“Matsubara-s-san!!! You're too close-” Ran flailed her arms before getting a grip onto Kanon, though the area that Ran managed to get a hold on was less than safe for work. </p><p>“Uh-Uhmm… Ran-chan, you're grabbing on my b-bre-” This was the fourth time their conversation was cut off, this time by Ran herself as she removed her hands from Kanon and covered her mouth.</p><p>“I-I’ll go with you, ok? Just… Not a word about this…” Ran’s voice was hushed enough to only allow the pair to hear, but strong enough to maintain her stand during such a peculiar situation. </p><p>“Ah, alright, th-thank you… Ran-chan...  uhmmm…” Kanon quickly removed herself from Ran as well, retreating to her former position and pillow as she reverted back to clutching it. </p><p>“Not. A word.” Ran’s began to hide her face as well, covering it with her palm as her voice asserted her. In classic tsundere fashion, Ran’s face was flushed with a blush so bright that it could rival the blistering sun currently glowing through the window, though she would never admit it. </p><p>“And I thought Kanon was normal…” </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“Mii-kun! Do you think there will be sharks there?” Hagumi asked excitedly as she skipped along the path to the mansion. She was wearing a bright orange t-shirt with purple flowers on it and custom-made pants with Michelle’s face printed on it. They were gifts from Kaoru and Kokoro respectively.</p><p>“Well, at this point, I am not surprised anymore if Kokoro does have a shark tank in her mansion…” Misaki sighed as she was dragged along by Hagumi. The energy radiating from Hagumi was making her tired for some reason. Misaki wore her usual hat, which provided some shade from the sun, a white tee and bermudas. </p><p>Trees lined the path, casting a shadow over the pair as Misaki sighed again. The warmth of Hagumi’s hand did give her some comfort. She never knows what is going on in that bassist’s orange head, but Hagumi does bring a smile to her face from time to time.</p><p>“Mii-kun, hurry hurry! We are going to reach soon!” Hagumi shouted excitedly as she pulled Misaki’s hand.</p><p>“Alright…” Misaki dragged her feet to the front door. Hagumi knocked on the huge wooden door with a burst of taps.</p><p>“Hagumi... there is a doorbell…” Misaki pointed at the white button beside the door. </p><p>“Oh!” Hagumi jumped up and pressed the button multiple times and the sound of bells can be heard from inside the house.</p><p>“Once is enough.” Misaki sighed again. Just what does she really see in this girl?</p><p>Kokoro opened the door. “Hagumi! Misaki!” She pounced forward and hugged the pair with her arms. “I am so happy you could make it! How was the flight?”</p><p>“It was…-”</p><p>“It was so fun!!! We could see the clouds and the birds and like the waitress is so nice…” Hagumi cut off Misaki’s words and started rambling to Kokoro about the flight.</p><p>“It's an air stewardess…” Misaki mumbled under her breath.</p><p>“Anyway, Kokoron, you have a shark here right?” Hagumi leaned forward towards Kokoro, her eyes sparkling.</p><p>“Eh? How did you know about Mr Tickles?” Kokoro’s eyes widened. “Mr Tickles is in the aquarium downstairs!”</p><p>“A-Aquarium?!” Misaki's mouth hung open as she was stunned speechless. However, Hagumi didn’t even seem surprised. </p><p>“I knew it!!!” Hagumi grabbed Misaki’s hand, “Mii-kun, hurry hurry!!!”</p><p>“Follow me!” Kokoro started sprinting forward.</p><p>“Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-” Misaki almost fell as Hagumi started running to keep up with Kokoro as their fingers are interlocked together.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“Ran-chan, over here!” Kanon walked at a breakneck pace towards the aquarium, turning off all external stimuli in anticipation of the jellyfish. Ran, who was clearly struggling to keep up to the drummer’s brisk pace, heaved out another large sigh. </p><p>“Matsubara-san… You’re… Too fast…” Ran’s voice was dry, as if her throat was hollowed out of water. You would think that keeping up with Moca’s bread buying sprees would’ve prepared Ran for Kanon’s mad dash towards her beloved jellyfish, but Kanon was another beast entirely.</p><p>As soon as the pair entered the aquarium, Kanon’s attention was swiftly grabbed and caught by the jellyfish exhibit. Her face snapped away from the black and blue interior of the aquarium and eyed the jellyfishes, pacing towards them with a scarily quickly. </p><p>Ran, who had seen this occurring from a mile away, immediately followed behind Kanon, wanting to prevent her from jumping into the tank and becoming one with the wavy and soft beings known as jellyfish. </p><p>The jellyfish exhibit was a room of its own, tucked to the side of the hallway with an arch for its entrance. Entering the room, Kanon was practically a child in a candy store, enthralled by the myriad of jellyfish species in front of her. Her eyes sparkled with a dazzling glow, almost bright enough to be reflected by the tanks. </p><p>A particular species that caught Kanon’s attention was the Aurelia Aurita, otherwise known as the moon jelly. It’s wide and alien head danced with the flow of the water, as it’s numerous tentacles followed suit. The way it effortlessly swam through the calm waters of the tank entranced Kanon, enchanting her with their beauty and ethereal glow. </p><p>Kanon placed her palm onto the glass tank, attempting to be one with the jellyfish. To feel the flow of the ocean within her body and swim away to-</p><p>“Matsubara-san, you’ve been at this for an hour.” </p><p>It was surprising to see Ran take note of the time, considering this was not her forte. Though, the vocalist’s voice snapped Kanon’s jellyfish-filled head back into the realm of reality. Ran carried her face on her palms, hiding any emotions she would’ve displayed. The moment Kanon turned back to face Ran, her expression took a turn for embarrassment. Her eyes were wide with crude realisation, with mouth agape in a large ‘O’. You could almost see it close and open up in a slit as Kanon’s face lit up fiery red.</p><p>“F-F-F-Fueeeee!!!!! R-Ran-C-Chan, I'm so sorry!!! I-I’ll make it up for you s-s-somehow-!!!” </p><p>“Make it up for me?” Ran had an audible thought and surprise at Kanon’s blundered suggestion, then transitioning into a tiny but visible giggle at Kanon’s overreaction. </p><p>“You don’t have to do anything, Matsubara-san. Besides, I agreed to accompany you, didn’t I?”</p><p>After hearing Ran’s reply, Kanon’s face went from fiery red to peach-pink at an unrealistically quick speed. </p><p>“Ran-chan!!!!!” Kanon didn’t really give it a thought, as she ran towards Ran and enveloped her in a bear hug, her arms nearly crushing the poor vocalist.</p><p>“Y-Your so k-kind… How can I ever-” In what seems to be an endless amount of cut offs, Ran once again cut off Kanon’s sentence. </p><p>“Y’know… You could share a room with me, if you wanna…” To say Ran had great difficulty saying that line was a sore understatement. Of course, Ran had no unsafe intentions in that line, as she merely wanted to make sure Kanon did not suddenly morph into a jellyfish in the middle of the night. Yes, that thought is beyond unrealistic but Kanon was from Hello Happy World, and it's enough justification for Ran. </p><p>“Gosh… Moca’s gonna tease me to death when she hears of this…” Ran could already vision her bandmates making joke after joke about this, word spreads surprisingly fast. Though, what’s spreading fast at the moment was the pain Ran was experiencing while Kanon squeezed her. </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“I want a room with Rinrin and Sayo!” Ako declared as soon as she saw keys being passed out.</p><p>“This mansion has enough rooms for everyone to have one,” a suit with a handful of keys said.</p><p>“Shall we just get neighboring rooms, then?” Sayo suggested.</p><p>“But we’re finally on vacation together. There’s no way I want to sleep anywhere that isn’t next you and Rinrin,” Ako replied, “And we can conduct demon rituals more easily if all of us are there.”</p><p>“That does sound nice, Ako-chan,” said Rinko, “The sleeping together part. And the demonic rituals too, I guess.”</p><p>Sayo blushed, but said, “Well, I guess we don’t <em> need </em> to use all the rooms. Just one room will do fine for us. Thank you ma’am.”</p><p>“In that case, I apologize for the inconvenience, but would you mind waiting a little so we can prepare a room for you? We can take your luggage so you can enjoy the amenities while you wait,” replied the suit.</p><p>“Sorry for the trouble, and thank you,” Sayo said, not quite sure what difficulty there was in preparing a room for three. Maybe there were only single beds? It would be a bit strange given how the guest rooms were at the Tsurumaki mansion.</p><p>“Let us meet the winged ones of the vast abyss,” said Ako excitedly.</p><p>“The stingrays and other fish are in the basement,” Rinko said, looking at a brochure.</p><p>As the three girls left, the suit made a quick call to a construction company. It would be preferable if the walls between their rooms could get taken down while they were still in the aquarium, so that they’d never know there were walls in the first place. </p><p>Unaware of the destructive forces they had unleashed, Ako, Rinko, and Sayo, walked into the basement. The many tanks gave it a soft, blue glow. </p><p>“This is really pretty,” Rinko said softly, “But not as pretty as you two.”</p><p>“They say that aquariums have a romantic atmosphere. I think I get why, Everything around us is beautiful, but it only makes you two more so,” Sayo replied.</p><p>“Ooh, this is the moment we kiss, right? I’m going to kiss you even more deeply than a remora!” Ako exclaimed. </p><p>It would have ruined the moment, but Sayo and Rinko knew their girlfriend, and knew that this was about as romantic as she was going to get.</p><p>After some smooches, the three of them ventured deeper into the aquarium. Something caught Ako’s eye.</p><p>“Wow! A real life demon!” Ako gasped, going over to a very dark tank lit by UV light.</p><p>“It’s a frogfish,” Sayo read from the sign next to the tank, “This particular one is from a very deep part of the ocean.”</p><p>“So it’s from the real life abyss,” Rinko added, “We fought a boss like this in a game once, didn’t we?”</p><p>“It certainly does look monstrous enough,” said Sayo.</p><p>“Guys, I’ve decided that I’m going to be a fish researcher when I grow up, so I can learn infernal knowledge about the demonic denizens of the depths!” exclaimed Ako, now very excited.</p><p>“A marine biologist? Well, in that case, you’ll want to learn as much as you can from these signs,” Sayo replied, “And you should take notes so you can write about it in your journal, too.”</p><p>“You know, when video game mages and stuff learn new spells, all they have to do is click on a book. Real life should work like that too,” said a now slightly less excited Ako.</p><p>“It’ll be fun, Ako-chan. You just need to take all the cool descriptions you make up of the fish and write them down so you can share it with your teacher,” said Rinko.</p><p>“In that case, please lend me your aid, Rinrin,” Ako replied.</p><p>Sayo wondered how Ako’s teacher would react to being handed a journal full of chuunibyou rambling, but she decided to stick to making sure whatever Ako wrote down was factually correct, regardless of the vocabulary chosen. </p><p>They wandered from exhibit to exhibit, before entering a room that contained a beast that awed all three of them.</p><p>“A leviathan!” exclaimed not Ako, but Rinko.</p><p>“The king of the sea, teeth like a multitude of knives… We pay our respect to thee, um, Mr. Tickles,” Ako said, reading the sign. </p><p>“It’s almost unheard of to keep a great white shark in captivity. This one seems surprisingly healthy, too,” Sayo commented.</p><p>“Here is Mr Tickles!!” A loud voice sounded across the aquarium. Kokoro entered the exhibit from the other side with Hagumi and Misaki. </p><p>“Waaaaahhhhhh!!!” Hagumi yelled in awe as she stared at the giant shark swimming before her. Even Misaki was slightly amazed at how Kokoro managed to have a great white shark swimming below her mansion. </p><p>“How did you even capture it…?” Misaki mumbled under her breath.</p><p>“Well, I just placed some meat in the water and Mr Tickles came by himself and stayed here ever since!” Kokoro chattered happily. Misaki stole a glance at the black suits standing by the doorway. Those guys must have suffered to get the shark</p><p>“Mii-kun, quick! Let’s take a photo!” Hagumi dragged Misaki towards the glass and pulled out her phone. “Hm...who can take this photo for us…?” </p><p>“Leave it to me, Hagumi! I shall use my demonic eye to find the perfect picture. But can you take a picture of us, too?” Ako requested.</p><p>“That’s not a bad idea,” said Sayo, ”You can use it for your journal.”</p><p>“Sayo, you’re alright with me using a picture of us kissing for my journal?” Ako asked, surprised.</p><p>“You were going to take a picture of us kissing?” Sayo asked back.</p><p>“Of course! It’ll be my new phone lockscreen,” Ako answered.</p><p>“I’d like a photo like that, too,” Rinko said quietly.</p><p>“No problem!! Leave it to me and Mii-kun!! Here you go, Ako-chin!” Hagumi passed her phone to Ako and ran back beside Misaki. </p><p>“Alright! Look over here! One...two…three!” Ako shouted as she pressed down the shutter and as soon as she did Hagumi turned towards Misaki and kissed her on the cheeks.</p><p>“H-Hagumi?!” Misaki’s face immediately turned bright red as she stared at the orange-haired girl who was grinning sheepishly.</p><p>“Ehehehe you look cute Mii-kun!”</p><p>“I-I told you not t-to do it in public, right?” Misaki looked away as she could feel her face was about to get burned off. </p><p>Sayo understood Misaki’s pain. The sight of her getting embarrassed was rather comedic, but in a moment, it would be Sayo’s turn.</p><p>Hagumi pretended not to hear that and rushed forward towards Ako. “Let me see! Let me see!”</p><p>Ako handed the phone back to Hagumi as Hagumi stared at the photo with her eyes sparkling. “Waaahhh Mii-kun, you look so cute in this picture and Mr Tickles even smiled for us!” </p><p>Misaki walked over, still barely recovered from the kiss and stared at the photo. Indeed, she looked dumb as usual with her eyes open so wide but other than that, she must admit, it was a rather cute picture.</p><p>“Our turn, our turn!” Ako passed her phone to Hagumi.  Hagumi nodded and took over the phone, as Ako, Sayo and Rinko walked towards the glass.</p><p>“Hmm, do you know any cool kissing poses,” Ako asked her girlfriends, “Something that’ll let us look super <em> bang </em> while we show how much we love each other.”</p><p>“Just kissing isn’t enough for you?” Sayo asked rhetorically. She already knew the answer.</p><p>“It’s a bit different from the manga you usually read, but maybe we can try a pose from a shoujo manga?” Rinko suggested.</p><p>“Alright. In that case, let’s both kabedon Sayo! Oh, but banging on the glass will disturb Mr. Tickles, right?” Ako replied.“Maybe we can try chin-in-hand kisses?” Rinko wondered.</p><p>“How would that even work with three people?” Sayo pointed out, “Let’s just kiss like we usually do.”</p><p>And they did.</p><p>“I took the photo,” Hagumi said cheerfully, “You can see the love! But not really your faces.”</p><p>Ako, Rinko, and Sayo walked over to look at the photo.</p><p>“Maybe we should just take a picture of us cuddling?” Rinko said.</p><p>Sayo, though, noticed something far more amiss than their faces covering each other. </p><p>“Next to the shark… Is that Kokoro?”</p><p>Indeed, in the background of the photo, wearing a wetsuit and hugging Mr. Tickles was none other than the Tsurumaki heiress.</p><p>“Whoa!” Ako exclaimed, “Kokoro has become a denizen of the deep. From henceforth, I shall refer to her as ‘Dances with Sharks.’”</p><p>“You can dance with sharks, too,” said a suit while entering the room. She had several wetsuits in her hands.</p><p>“Do you want to join Tsurumaki-sama?”</p><p>“K-Kokoro?!!” Misaki realised there is no end to the antics Kokoro can pull. </p><p>“I want to join Kokoron!!” Hagumi did not hesitate to grab one of the wetsuits.</p><p>“Wait hold on-” Misaki was about to grab Hagumi’s hand when Ako cut in front of her.</p><p>“I want to swim with the Creature of the Abyssal Ocean too!” Ako grabbed the other wetsuit.</p><p>Rinko chuckled and walked forward to take a wetsuit silently. Meanwhile, Sayo sighed.</p><p><em> Hikawa-san….I know your pain… </em> </p><p>Misaki sighed too, as she had no choice but to accompany her girlfriend and dive into the deep waters.</p><p>Misaki walked up to grab one of the remaining two of the wetsuits and looked at Sayo, as if silently telling her that this is inevitable. Sayo walked up reluctantly and grabbed the last wetsuit. The five of them were escorted by the suit into a lift up where they can dive into the shark tank</p><p>“Please do not touch the shark for your safety. Keep a 1m distance always.” The suit briefed the girls. However, Ako and Hagumi don't seem to be listening.</p><p>“Wait...aren’t they supposed to be some kind of safety measures?” Misaki quickly asked.</p><p>“I agree with Okusawa-san. This is far too dangerous.” Sayo crossed her arms and nodded.</p><p>“Well, Mr Tickles is rather docile unless provoked. So, just keep your distance.”</p><p>The girls were brought to a changing room and they changed into their wetsuits before they were led across the hall to a metal door. The suit swings open the door and they could immediately smell the scent of the ocean. </p><p>“Any more last warnings?” Misaki asked again.</p><p>However, Hagumi and Ako ran across the platform and dived straight into the water.</p><p>“Ako-chan!” Rinko shouted but it was too late. She quickly jumped after Ako, fearing for her safety. Sayo saw and jumped after them too. Only Misaki was left standing alone on the platform with her mouth hanging open.</p><p>“Well so much for the briefing…” Misaki jumped into the water and immediately, she could see the amazing sight of fishes that swam around her. She caught sight of her orange-haired girlfriend already swimming alongside Kokoro. </p><p>Meanwhile, Ako’s descent was halted by the hugs of her guardian angels, Rinko and Sayo.</p><p>Lacking the use of sound to explain the danger that lurked, Rinko resorted to using gestures instead. The first was a T pose, hands as far apart as could be. The second was a peek-a-boo, a sign of stealth. And the last was a dance that had been done by countless aliens on online advertisements.</p><p>To Ako, the signal was clear as day. Don’t aggro the enemy. And it was an important signal, too, Ako hadn’t even known the enemy could be aggrod.</p><p>Sayo held a single finger out, then shaped her fingers into an M. That meant… one meter detection radius. Alright then. Ako, now aware this was a stealth mission rather than a simple celebration, approached more cautiously with her girlfriends. </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“H-Hold on, are they all in the <b>shark tank!?!!</b>” Ran’s shock and disbelief could not be contained, as her eyes caught several members of Hello Happy World and Roselia head-deep into a tank containing sharks. Well, they were more like several metres deep into the treacherous tank. </p><p>Ran’s plans were plain and simple, head back to the reception desk to get a key for her and Kanon’s rooms. As the pair were walking to the exit of the aquarium, Ran caught a few silhouettes within the shark tank. Curious, she went to take a look. Who would have known that Ran would witness controlled chaos right in front of her eyes. </p><p>“Ran-chan, this is… Very normal.” Kanon, on the other hand, was already accustomed to such ridiculous antics by her bandmates. At least it wasn’t as bad as breaking out penguins from a zoo. She scratched her chin as she laughed the entire debacle. </p><p>“Hmmmm, Ran-chan, would you like to join them? They look like they're having lots of fun!!!” Again, another outlandish statement from Kanon, but at this point Ran should be more than familiar with this. </p><p>“Join? J-<b>Join them?</b> Matsubara-san?” Sounding almost pleading, Ran’s concern was as visible as day with Kanon’s wild suggestion of fun. </p><p>Ran was about to shoot down Kanon’s suggestion faster than she shot down Moca’s advances, but stopped right in her tracks when she saw Kanon’s eyes sparkle with glimmering glee. Sighing in defeat, Ran warmed up to her definitely-not girlfriend’s request.</p><p>“Fine… Just don’t hurt yourself, alright?” Ran sounded like a reluctant mother giving in to her child, and it was very much so. The moment Ran gave the ok, Kanon made a literal jump for joy as she yet again zoomed out of Ran’s sight. </p><p>“Mitake-sama, your wetsuit is ready.” And at the same lightning quick speed, Ran was surrounded at all sides by the suits, with a grey and red wetsuit in hand. </p><p>Ran was bewildered by the suits, not because of their otherworldly speed, but how they got her measurements so precise. Ran did not want to have any weird thoughts but… </p><p>“Wait, it was the form Kokoro made us fill in-!!!” Ran answered her own boggling question, before being carried away in a quite literal manner by the suits into a changing room to don her wetsuit. </p><p>A few minutes later, Ran found herself standing on a board right above the shark tank, with Kanon already preparing herself to dive in. </p><p>“Ran-chan, you look nervous, want me to calm you down?” Kanon turned to face Ran, making a much appreciated suggestion to the trembling vocalist. </p><p>“That would be… Much appreciated.” Breathing heavily, Ran attempted to bring up her sinking heart as Kanon leaned into her and whispered.</p><p>“This is a song that I hum to myself when I'm nervous, hope it’ll work for you too!” Hearing this statement, Ran felt a mixture of fearful and relieved anticipation. Relieved as it was Kanon singing it, but also fearful as it was <b>Kanon</b> singing it, what oddity would come out.</p><p>“Ba~by shark do doo do do do doo baby shark do doo do do do doo baby shark do doo do do do doo <b>baby shark</b>~” </p><p>Oh no. Oh dear god no. Of course, Ran’s expectations were already set to maximum weird, but <b>Baby Shark?</b> To calm someone down? Wasn’t it just a song made from Kokoro’s one-of-a-kind strange brain, but Kanon as well?</p><p>“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!” Ran then lost all of her little remaining sanity, as Kanon used her left hand and put it around her, pushing both of them into the tank. The last thing heard from Ran was an acute “Glug.” </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Ako, Hagumi, and Kokoro were having fun hanging out with Mr. Tickles, but they started to find themselves at the same part of the tank more often than not. It seemed like the shark was drawn to a particular vent, as if he wanted to cross. And of course, Kokoro would do anything to make her pet happy, including removing the vent.</p><p>Mr. Tickles wasted no time at all swimming into the narrow tunnel beyond. Kokoro followed her beloved pet, and taking Kokoro’s actions as a guarantee of safety (which perhaps they shouldn’t have,) Ako and Hagumi followed the heiress.</p><p>Meanwhile, Misaki, Rinko, and Sayo looked on with shock. Misaki’s was broken by a voice coming through her diving mask.</p><p>“It seemed we made a miscalculation,” said a familiar yet anonymous voice, “We apologize, Okusawa-sama, but we are once again asking for your Tsurumaki-sama-saving support.”</p><p>Misaki gestured for the rather anxious Rinko and Sayo to go ahead. She swam back to the surface to talk to the suits.</p><p>“A great white shark doesn’t do well in captivity,” the woman in black Misaki met explained, “So naturally we have a tunnel for it to travel to the open ocean. In fact, there have been several Mr. Tickles over time. And while all of them so far have been surprisingly nice to Tsurumaki-sama, we don’t wish to take any chances.”</p><p>And with that, Misaki’s dive suit was replaced with a Mermaid Michelle suit, and she was given several tranquilizer spearguns, for herself and her friends. With the jet propulsion she now had, she was at least able to catch up to the others quickly. </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>After the plane ride Lisa quickly put Aya’s arm around her neck to stabilize her since it looked like she was gonna have a hard time walking over to the mansion.</p><p>“Do you need to go to the restroom Aya?”</p><p>Aya weakly shook her head. “I-I’ll be fine.. I think..”</p><p>“Alright.. I’ll put you on a chair in the lobby and get our room, okay?” Aya nodded as Lisa slowly entered the mansion with a somewhat sickly Aya. They entered the mansion and Lisa put Aya on a nearby chair as the bassist went to the receptionist to get their room key. After a bit of writing Lisa got the room key and went to Aya.</p><p>“How are you feeling?”</p><p>“A bit better.. I think I should be able to walk now..” Aya slowly got up with Lisa’s help. She stumbled a bit before she stood up. Lisa held her hand and went to where their room was located. As soon as Lisa opened the door, Aya went to the bed and laid down. Lisa put the room keys down on a nearby table and put her hand on her head.</p><p>“Still feeling sick?”</p><p>“I’m feeling a bit better now, I wanna lay down for a while though.” Aya said and Lisa nodded as she looked outside the window, she didn’t expect that after Christmas she would be invited to go to the Bahamas with everyone, initially she had a bit of doubt going here with a plane since Aya gets air sickness but Aya said she would be able to handle it, and she did for a while before Lisa needed to get a bag for her to throw up in.</p><p>Lisa sighed fondly while she went to the bed and sat down beside Aya. “You can rest for now, Aya. I’ll be staying here.”</p><p>“Alright.. I’ll just take a nap then..” Lisa smiles and nods before kissing Aya’s forehead before she slowly falls asleep.</p><p>After getting her fill of looking at Aya’s cute sleeping face and holding her hand, Lisa stood up and looked through the window. She noticed that there was a beach outside. Maybe she would stay there with Aya for a while, after she was done taking a nap. </p><p>Eventually, Lisa went to the bed and gently nudged Aya’s shoulder. “Aya~?” The idol let out a quiet groan before opening her eyes.</p><p>“Mm..?”</p><p>“Wanna go to the beach outside? We can sit on the sand and enjoy the horizon there.” Aya sat up and stretched herself before nodding. “Sure!” Lisa smiled and held her girlfriend’s hand, she took the room keys and left their room.</p><p>After a few minutes they were now at the beach and Aya immediately sat down on the sand before taking a long breath. “It’s been a while since I went to the beach..” Lisa laughed a bit and nodded. They looked at the horizon and noticed a shark fin at the waters.</p><p>“Is that a shark fin..?” Lisa commented.</p><p>Aya stood up and walked a bit nearer to the water to see the shark fin. “I think it is..”</p><p>Lisa laughed. “I think it might just be the others trying to prank us by pretending they are one.” She then waved towards the shark fin to get their attention. “Heeey~!”</p><p>“Lisa-senpai!” Hagumi exclaimed, popping out of the water, “You should join us! The water’s fine.”</p><p>“See, nothing to worry about,” Lisa said. But after popping into the water for just a moment, Lisa popped back out.</p><p>“Never mind, there’s an actual shark,” said the bassist, sounding much less composed than she was a moment ago.</p><p>“What?” Aya asked, not quite sure what to make of the statement. </p><p>“There is a great white shark right over there. And Ako, Hagumi, and Kokoro are playing with it.”</p><p>Aya wasn’t sure what to make of Lisa’s change of heart. At least until Ako popped out with a rifle-looking thing on her back.</p><p>“Don’t worry, me, Rinrin, Sayo, and Misaki are ready to protecc! So you should feel safe joining us, Lisa-nee, Aya-senpai.”</p><p>“A-Are you sure about that?? I don’t think it’s safe to swim next to a great white shark..” Lisa started to look a bit nervous thinking about it.</p><p>“I-I think I’ll pass..!” Aya immediately said as she waved her hands in front of her.</p><p>“We’re happy just watching, so you can enjoy yourselves. Oh, Ran!! Kanon! You're here too?” After replying to Ako, Lisa caught two other figures surfacing from the ocean, both clad in wetsuits matched with their hair colour. </p><p>Kanon swam towards the shore, with Ran right beside her. Well, more accurately, Ran’s head, as the rest of her body was submerged. This was already a cause for concern for Lisa, but what’s the worst that could happen? </p><p>Well, Lisa would quickly regret ever thinking of that, as when the pair resurfaced and reached the shoreline, Lisa could see that Ran was not actually swimming, but Kanon was carrying her in her arms. </p><p>Firstly, why was Kanon doing that? Wasn’t she supposed to be the scared one? Secondly, why was Ran knocked out? These questions loaded Lisa’s mind as she made her way towards the pair, confused and panicked.</p><p>“Ah- Lisa-chan!!! Could you help me a little? Ran-chan fainted when I pulled her into the water, so I was hoping to bring her back with…”</p><p>Kanon used her free hand to reach into her wetsuit’s pocket, using her bare hands to remove and reveal a translucent and fluid jellyfish. </p><p>“This! I found him when I was swimming, and I think the shock that it’ll create will bring Ran back!” </p><p>“E-ehhh? Kanon, this isn’t how you…” Lisa was quite taken aback by Kanon. How was she able to hold the jellyfish with her bare hands? No matter, Lisa was about to stop Kanon from electrocuting her fellow schoolmate, but was too late as Kanon already put the jellyfish right onto Ran’s forearm.</p><p>“No Kanon don’t-” Lisa would assume that Ran would have gotten injured, but instead her eyes shot wide open, as she began to cough up water as breathed in sharply. </p><p>“Ghrhh-!! K-Kano-!!!” </p><p>“See? All better!” </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“And then I realized. <em>Itsumo doori </em>would never come to me again,” Ran explained to her psychiatrist.</p><p>“I see. And you regret this?” asked the soothing voice.</p><p>“Nah. Kanon is my girlfriend now, and that’s better than <em> Itsumo Doori, </em>to be honest,” replied Ran, “And I feel like I’ve been able to take Afterglow’s sound to places it’s never been before.”</p><p>“Then, it’s not a bad thing, right?” the psychiatrist asked, “Let go of your anxiety. <em> Itsumo doori </em> is fine, but even you’ve admitted you’re in a better place now. Just enjoy it.”</p><p>“I guess so. Thanks, this has helped,” said Ran.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it. Just remember, the fee is a dozen Yamabuki buns,” replied Moca.</p><p>Ran’s <em> Itsumo Doori </em> might have been broken, but Moca felt like hers was just starting. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you enjoyed this, consider joining us at:<br/>https://discord.gg/S52kPxv</p></blockquote></div></div>
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